Anime Review: Love Lab

It must be a miracle, because not only am I writing my new review when I'm suppose to write a review, but I've also seem to have finally figured out a system to allow my 3DS to charge fully regularly. Of course this could have all been made moot if Nintendo would JUST RELEASE THE NEW NINTENDO 3DS IN NORTH AMERICA!! But I digress. Anyway, it's time for a new anime review... because I haven't beaten any of the games I'm currently playing. DAMN YOU EMPLOYMENT FOR TAKING AWAY ALL MY FREE TIME!

I look at her. And she looks at me. And I look at her. And she looks at me.

Despite both going to a prestigious all girl academy, Maki and Riko can't be further different from one another. Maki is the flawless student counsel president who does everything perfectly and never makes a mistake: "Princess Fuji". While Riko is a trouble maker who's poor grades and her hair bands that are against the strict school's regulations has made her a problem child for the teachers: The "Wild Kid". They would never hang out together, right? Well, that all changed when Riko walked into the Student Counsel office and saw Maki practicing kissing on a hug pillow with a crude drawing of a male student named "Huggy" on it. See, Maki wants to fall in love and wants to practice every step in the process, but since she has never had any real contact with members of the opposite sex outside of her father, Maki has NO IDEA where to start and most of her concepts leap frogs over romance and rushes headlong into violence or horror. Riko then agrees to help Maki with her love troubles and suddenly she becomes the President's Aide giving her years of wisdom as the "Master of Love." The Problem: Despite years of trying, Riko has NEVER landed a single boyfriend, or even had a single male friend who thinks of her as a girl. But instead of telling her the truth, Riko plays along and their "Love Lab" lessons begin; however, since the school has a strict policy against romantic relationships, Maki and Riko must keep their little research sessions a secret. Unfortunately for Riko, it isn't long before the rest of the student counsel, and large portions of the school, learn of their "Study Club" and they too want to know the advice of the "Master of Love." Can Riko "Fake it until she makes it"? Will Maki ever find her one true Prince "Huggy"? And will the rest of the student body stop producing hearts the moment one of these two appears in their line of sight? It's time to begin today's "Love Lab"!

At this point the most sensible option would be to just walk out the door.

Love Lab is a high strung comedy where most of the humor comes from the rapid escalation from a simple (and most times cliche) romantic scenario to a full blown life or death hypothetical. A lot of it is built on the interplay of the core cast, with Maki often times finding ways to make her "One in a Lifetime Encounter" to be compulsory by any means necessary, while Riko is trying desperately to keep her from going off the deep end, only to find herself forced to make things up about her past so that she can "Speak from Experience." But that's just our two leads, we soon get introduced to the painfully shy and clumsy secretary Suzu (who is rather adept at making paper fans), the acutely blunt and perceptive money loving treasurer Sayo (who loves to sadistically play with the other characters, and the completely perfectly average president turn vice-president Eno (who said that both Maki and her father are "lingerie").

Riko eventually gains the ability to "Break" these fantasies.

There isn't much bad to say about the series. It's all highly hilarious and amazingly over-the-top (which of course makes it hard to review without trying to set up the jokes and why they are funny). In fact the only major problems with the series is that it is only 13 episodes, and while it does have a nice story arch that finds a nice place to end with every major plot thread being tied up, it is still kind of disappointing as the series could easily have continued with this kind of high octane comedy. Also, thanks to the face that this was licensed and distributed by Sentai Filmworks, the only way to enjoy the series is to either know how to speak Japanese or be able to read subtitles really fast. DAMMIT Sentai Filmworks! Why is it that over half of the series you bring over are subtitle ONLY!?

Love Lab is just a complete blast. It starts off at 11 and some how continues even past that. It is hilarious and unrelenting, and the only reason it didn't get a higher ranking is that my topic ranking "MUST WATCH!" is only reserved for series that are not only fantastic but do something that other series don't and you can walk away with the feeling that your life is now more enriched because of it. But as for Love Lab, it is another slice of life comedy, but it is a DAMN funny one. Highly Recommended.

Until Next Time.

-CRES, "I WANT TO DO IT RIGHT NOW!"